Transmigration: Space-Aided Rise to Power and Prosperity-Chapter 224 - 60: Lending Usury

In this way, she still worried endlessly about her daughter’s dowry. She brought only a little dowry, and after she got married, she found out that a woman without a dowry lives a very difficult life. The whole family relied on the master’s salary for sustenance. The master was timid, fearing that accepting gifts would get him reported to the authorities and caught on a weak spot.

"Madam, the master is here!" The maid beside Madame Liao suddenly ran in to announce. Madame Liao panicked and hurried to put away the jewelry on the table. But Vice Magistrate Wang stopped the maid, pulled aside the curtain, and entered himself.

Upon entering, he saw Madame Liao tidying up the items. "You accepted gifts from others?" Of course, Vice Magistrate Wang knew the family’s situation. How could they afford even half a box of jewelry, let alone a whole box of pearls?

Realizing she couldn’t hide it, Madame Liao simply explained, "It’s from the family that visited the master today!"

The servants of the inner courtyard stood outside the door, holding their breath, because the master and the madam inside had started arguing furiously. In the end, Vice Magistrate Wang stormed out of the room, flicking his sleeves in anger.

Vice Magistrate Wang walked off, extremely frustrated. Indeed, a woman and a petty person are hard to engage with! How easy is it to get money like that? If Lord Prefect gets promoted this time, he would be the best candidate for the position. But if he’s discovered to have accepted bribes, wouldn’t it all be in vain?

Yet thinking of Madame Liao’s unreasonable argument and tears pricked at his heart. Did he not wish to live a good life? Vice Magistrate Wang wiped his face and discarded his worries. Let’s see if Gu Chengyu has excessive demands; otherwise, he won’t hesitate to turn against him!

Meanwhile, Gu Chengyu had just dealt with the restaurant matters but had no idea that others were already plotting against his second sister — more accurately, against him.

Huang Ming led Gu Wanhua to find Gou, having previously seen him in the Prefecture and knowing his whereabouts.

"Come, come, come! Place your bets! Hey, I’m talking to you! Are you betting on big or small?"

Gu Wanhua followed Huang Ming to a gambling den. Just as they entered, they heard the shouts from inside!

Huang Ming threaded through the crowd at the gambling den, but there were too many people, so Gu Wanhua had to wait by the door. He looked at the chaotic scene inside, feeling somewhat uneasy. He had never been in a place like this before.

"Gou!" Huang Ming finally saw Gou in a corner, at the moment he was playing Pai Gow. The gambling den was too noisy, and Gou didn’t hear him even after shouting a couple of times, so he lightly pushed Gou.

"Oh? It’s actually Huang Ming? What are you doing here? What? Do you want to try your hand at this?" Gou turned around and was surprised to see Huang Ming. In their village, Huang Ming was one of only two scholars, with his eyes almost always looking down on others. When had he ever engaged with him?

Huang Ming frowned at Gou’s frivolous and impudent talk. If it weren’t necessary, would he come to find this unlearned fellow?

Huang Ming forced a smile, "I have a matter to discuss with you. Could you step outside for a moment?"

Gou was taken aback when Huang Ming actually smiled at him for the first time.

Gou threw his Pai Gow pieces aside, saying, "I’m done for now. I’ll come back later!"

Huang Ming pulled Gou to a corner on the other side and gestured reassuringly to Gu Wanhua, who was watching them from afar.

"Isn’t your shopkeeper dealing in loan sharking here? I’ve got a business deal. Are you guys in or out?" Huang Ming said straight to the point.

"Who? You?" Gou gave Huang Ming a once-over and spoke with slight disdain. Coming from the same village, didn’t he know Huang Ming’s family situation? Did he have anything valuable to mortgage?

"Not me! I brought a classmate along. He urgently needs two hundred taels. As long as this deal is sealed, won’t you benefit?" Huang Ming’s impatience showed, annoyed at Gou’s scornful attitude.

"Alright! Take me to see him!" Gou was thinking that if this business deal went through, he could make some money too.

Gu Wanhua stood aside, watching Huang Ming and this person named Gou muttering about something unknown, suddenly feeling regretful. Two hundred taels of silver, if his father found out, wouldn’t he beat him to death?

"Are you the one who wants to borrow silver?" Gou took a look at Gu Wanhua, noting that although his clothes weren’t bad, they weren’t particularly excellent either. A family with significant wealth wouldn’t need to borrow money from them.

"Yes! I want to borrow two hundred taels!" At this point, Gu Wanhua realized that backing out wasn’t an option, so he decided not to hesitate any longer.

"What collateral do you offer?" Gou dusted off his clothes, asking while jiggling his legs.

"I have no silver and no collateral! But rest assured, I’ll pay it back after some time, and even if I can’t, my Little Uncle will settle the debt for me." Gu Wanhua quickly explained.

"Damn you, are you kidding me here? No collateral, yet you want to borrow money? Your Little Uncle? Isn’t he part of your family? If you all have no money, how would he? Do you think I’m stupid?" Gou initially thought he was discussing a real deal, only to feel duped.

"Hey, where is this coming from? How could it be a joke? Since I’ve approached you, I naturally have a way to repay the debt..." Huang Ming pulled Gou aside again, whispering a while before Gou turned back to glance at Gu Wanhua, reluctantly nodding.

At this moment, Gu Chengyu was in the restaurant, teaching the cooks to prepare dishes. He wrote out a menu with dishes not found in the Dayan Dynasty, many of which the hired cooks had never made, and some weren’t even trained cooks. Gu Chengyu had to teach them hands-on.

The restaurant’s kitchen didn’t need to be redecorated as Gu Chengyu had already arranged for the main hall and upstairs private rooms to be refurnished, making it look completely renewed. The staff, cooks, and accounting office were ready, awaiting the grand opening.

The past few days, representatives were distributing flyers across streets and alleys. Gu Chengyu designed the flyers and found someone to replicate them, choosing the restaurant’s opening day to be in eight days.

He selected a fast-learning cook to be the head chef. The head chef would periodically learn the dishes from Gu Chengyu and then teach them to the restaurant’s chefs, thus allowing Gu Chengyu more freedom from the kitchen.

Gu Chengyu wouldn’t remain in the Prefecture waiting for the restaurant’s opening. He would entrust matters here to Manager Niu and Yu Tuanzi, letting Yu Tuanzi stay in the Prefecture for a month until the restaurant stabilizes before returning.

"How many people have you bought this time?" Gu Chengyu always felt he had too few usable personnel, often constrained in his actions.

"Master! We’ve bought quite a number; fifty-odd people this time! This is the Prefecture; otherwise, you wouldn’t find so many people in a county!" Yu Tuanzi felt utterly helpless about Gu Chengyu’s obsession with hiring people. However, the Young Master’s Shop was a big enterprise indeed requiring many hands.

"By the way, among them, I’ve arranged one accountant for the restaurant, another is still idle. Master, you’d better decide what to do with him. Oh! There are also several maids and two embroideresses here. Master should be able to employ them, right?" Yu Tuanzi handed a stack of contracts to Gu Chengyu.

In fact, when buying embroideresses, he was hesitant. His master didn’t open an embroidery business, so why need embroideresses? But since his master instructed him to buy craftsmen who seemed skilled and honest, he acquiesced.